The Mysteries of History (July 19 Edition)
Rome Burns; Seneca Falls Learns
64 C.E. — Rome Burns
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Rome wasn’t built in a day, but much of it burned over several days when a conflagration in the fire-prone city grew out of control as a result of strong winds. The fire began in the year 64 C.E. beginning on the night of July 18th but was at its most damaging throughout the following days.
Despite the common tropes, there is no evidence Nero caused the fire, nor that he played a violin while the blaze was in progress (or, if he had, what tune he was fiddling away at, and whether he was “any good” at it).
Truth be told, the violin had not been invented yet. However (perhaps fittingly for a politician), Nero was skilled on the liar lyre.
Hundreds died and thousands lost their housing as a result of the fire. As often happens in such events, looting was rampant during the inferno, which goes to show that some people are normally law-abiding only because they can’t usually get away with following their base instincts, rather than because they want to do what’s right.
Nero, irritated with growing Christian influence in Rome, cast aspersions on them as being the culprits, claiming it was Christian arsonists who were to blame for the blaze. Perhaps mutual finger-pointing resulted from that, with one side saying, “They did it!” and the other responding with, “No! He did it! He’s just trying to shift suspicions away from himself!”
Nero (37-68 C.E.) only lived four years after Rome burned. The year before his death, Nero married a young boy and had him castrated (which came first: the marriage or the castration? I don’t know, and am not interested enough to research it).
At the age of 30, Nero had fallen out of favor (to put it mildly) with the public as well as others in power, and realized “the gig was up” and had an employee of his kill him, as he found himself unable to carry out the suicidal ideations he had.
In 1943, during World War 2 — 1,879 years after Rome burned — the U.S. bombed that city. Today, Rome is primarily known as the location of Vatican City, the seat of the catholic church and a Nation, of sorts, in its own rite right.
public domain image from wikimedia commons
Questions: Do you know what a lyre is? Why is it no longer a popular instrument? Have you ever been to Rome? Have you ever been to another part of Italy? If you haven’t been, which region would you be most interested in visiting?
1848 — First Women’s Rights Convention in the U.S. Begins
public domain image from wikimedia commons
Seneca Falls, July 19th and 20th, 1848, was the site and dates of the first women’s rights conference held in the United States.
A snub eight years previous had driven the two organizers of the event, Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902) and Lucretia Mott (1793-1880), together: the two abolitionists had met at an Anti-Slavery Convention in 1840, but were barred from active participation in it (because they were women).
The get-together of the sugar-and-spice-and-everything-nice set was advertised as, “a Convention to discuss the social, civil, and religious condition and rights of women.”
Day 1 of the Convention was for women only. Day 2 was open to the general public.
On the first day, Stanton read a “Declaration of Sentiments and Grievances” which began with the addition of a single word to U.S. Constitution’s preamble: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights.”
The declaration went on to enumerate some of the ways in which women are disrespected (provided unequal rights) in the United States, and called upon those hearing the words to do something about it: to organize and collectively demand fairer treatment.
On Day 2, among the male attendees was Frederick Douglass (1818-1895), a former slave who was a fellow abolitionist. Of the twelve resolutions passed by the gathered multitude on that second day, the only one that wasn’t unanimously voted for was one to allow women the privilege of voting in National elections. Douglass was for it, though, and it did pass, albeit not with the favor of all present (and even fewer of those who were not present, presumably mostly men).
Seventy-two years later, in 1920, long after the deaths of Stanton, Mott, and Douglass, women were granted the right to vote.
Questions: Have attitudes about women’s rights changed in your locale during your lifetime? Has your own attitude toward women’s rights changed over time? Did Mr. Stanton approve of his wife’s involvement with the women’s rights movement? How about Mr. Mott? What book did Frederick Douglass write? Have you heard the song I Am Woman by Helen Reddy?